The Stripper Slave

You know reality starts setting in when a part of you is ripped away--when the Moon Goddess abandons you. I was left completely broken with just my average self and my average wolf. I was lost. I couldn’t move or think. I couldn’t process how empty I felt. My body was on fire like it completely betrayed me. The Moon Goddess was a selfish one. She couldn’t get her mate so she left my body to give up. I don’t remember anything after being separated, but the faraway voices of Jack and Vincent. I slowly started to open my eyes which felt like they were super glued shut. An uncomfortable warmth was around me as I finally caught sight of who was there. I looked up to see the eyes of my daughter Ryn. She was combing my hair and my heart just melted. I looked at my surroundings and it was just us. Her eyes met mine and she stepped away from the bed. “DAD! Mom is awake!” With that, I heard feet enter the room and Jack was there. He was a mess. I took this second to look at his appearance and he obviously hadn’t been taking care of himself. His usual styled hair needed to be cut. His five o’clock shadow was now growing into a beard. The bags under his eyes were intense. He was leaning on the bed with his head on my chest. “Why are you freaking out?” Jack lifted his head and it looked like he was crying. “Babe, do you realize how long you’ve been asleep?” I searched my mind to try to find the answer and all I could do was shake my head no. “You were asleep for a week. Not to mention you had a seizure.” I slowly lifted myself against the headboard that wasn’t there. Looking back around I noticed we weren’t at home. We were still in Vincent’s pack.

“What do you mean I’ve been asleep for a week? What happened to me?” I think at this moment we both began to panic as I realized I probably had not showered or brushed my teeth in a week. I jolted from the bed and ran into the bathroom but was met with the bedroom floor. A loud crash sounded. The bedroom door opened and Vincent was staring at my face on the floor. “Is everything okay?” But just like that my heart skipped a few beats looking at him. My needy wolf was reaching for him like it had never done before. Red washed over my face to realize I was still crashed on the floor. I slowly lifted myself and tried to brush it off but I couldn’t stop the red on my brown skin from showing. Eyes burned my cheek as I looked at Jack. He had worry all over his face but Vincent stayed put. Why was I feeling like this? I saw Vincent’s eyes dart to my neck which could only mean one thing. I ran to the mirror and pulled my collar down. There was a faded bite mark there. “You marked me.”

I knew it would fade since it wasn’t both of us but still, I was angry that the decision wasn’t mine and he took that from me. Turning to face him, anger came over me but I was stopped by Jack. “He marked me without my permission, why are you stopping me?” I yelled. “Athena, he didn’t have a choice. I told him to. You were dying when the Moon Goddess left your body.” Meeting Vincent’s eyes I noticed the guilty look on his face. The tough Alpha we knew was now cowering. “It’ll fade by tomorrow, but that’s why you want him right now.” I knew this was hard for all of us and made me feel so conflicted. What was I supposed to do? Avoid him until it officially faded away? I don’t know if I can do that to him or myself. “I need to shower, please get out.” With one final look, I shut the bathroom door behind me and fell to the floor.

My heart and head were playing cat and mouse as nothing was keeping me from Vincent now. But I love another man that I would do anything for. In the real world, I couldn’t keep them both as much as I wanted to. A tear fell down my cheek knowing someone was going to get hurt out of this and it would be me. It was always me.

After soaking in the shower that seemed like forever, I knew I would have to face reality. I had to go out and see the way others had looked at me. I had hosted the Goddess and kept it from everyone. I was ordinary now. Slipping on some jeans and a shirt I went down into the kitchen to find Ryn sitting there. Now that is a face I’m glad to see. “Hey Mommy, are you feeling better?” I nodded my head making my way over to her. She wrapped her arms around me while I lifted her into my arms. “I love you, you know?” Her tiny head nodded against my body. “Want to go for a walk with me?” Once again she nodded against me. I released her from my hold and placed her on her feet while we headed for the front door. I knew she was too young to shift so we settled for a walk. I just needed time with her. She has been so close with her dad that she never wants to be around me. But it’s like when I woke up things changed. There was no longer this uncomfortable feeling, she doesn’t resent me anymore. We found a spot near a cliff that was above the stream. She sat near me placing her head on my shoulder. “Mom, I feel like you keep things from me.” Looking down at this young but smart kid, I knew she was right. We tried to shield her as much as we could because she is too innocent to know what happens. “Ryn, there are just some things that are best for you not to know. You wouldn’t understand.” I ran my hand through her hair to try to change the subject but she wouldn’t let it go. She is stubborn. ‘Alright, let’s have this talk. Ryn, do you know what mates are?” Having the mate talk is just like having the sex talk and boy I wasn’t ready for that. “No what are mates?” She asked. Her eyes were now looking at me. “It’s like this. When you hit puberty you will go through your first transformation into a wolf. As pure wolves, we have a person we are meant to be with forever. But it’s not like something is forced, because you’re connected so deeply.” Her eyes were glued to me now, like this was the best storytime.

“So you have a mate, mom?” Now I was cringing because this storytime had gotten so much deeper. But she wanted the truth. “I have actually. But I couldn’t be with him, because I was in love with your dad. And being with him was less painful than being with my mate.” To which she replied. “Why was it painful being with your mate if you’re meant to be with him?” The eye contact got more intense now. “One day when you get older, you will understand why when I tell you. But that problem isn’t a problem anymore. But I love you and I love your dad. I am not breaking this family up okay?” A promise that I intended to keep even with my weak whining wolf saying otherwise. “Does it have to do with the black wolf from my dreams? Is it my Uncle?” I was now looking at her just trying to avoid that conversation. Ryn has shown that she is an empath and she could be a little psychic at the same time. She had these dreams that came to life sometimes. She woke up in sweat a year back talking about a large, black, wolf that was standing at a stream looking at her. The wolf walked to her and lowered its head to her saying “He would protect her.” And ever since, she has been obsessed with finding him. The only fully black wolf that I knew was Vince. It’s strange but I won’t be the one to stop her creative mind. I think the question most of us had was who is her father? What if I told you that I didn’t know? Jack was aware but he didn’t think anything otherwise. When she grew up looking like me more and more each day it was hard to tell. And DNA with brothers makes it hard to tell them apart to put features together. But Jack is her father regardless. “Yeah baby, it has to do with the black wolf.” I stood up and reached for her hand as we walked back. There were eyes all on me after what happened, but I was used to it. Jack was out front waiting for us. “Hey, you good?” He asked. We knew it was a little skittish after what happened this morning but I couldn’t stay mad at him. “I want to go home.” He gave me a small nod before reaching for my hand. I know it was hard for him but I couldn’t accept it until this mark left. “ We will leave tomorrow, ok? You just woke up so don’t work yourself up.” And with that, we entered the house.